Katla Volcano Hits Europe Tourism in 2010. Just months after the Eyjafjallajokul volcano caused disruption of flights flying over the European aerial region, another volcano eruption may hurt the summer tourism of Europe. During the summer millions flock to the beautiful destinations of Europe to beat the heat and relax. Now locals are holding their breath as they wait to see if the Katla Volcano is going to hit European tourism. If it explodes causing the gas and ashes to spill over the air, locals are afraid of what it will do to the tourism industry in the area.

A farmer living close to the glacier-volcano Eyjafjallajökull in south Iceland told the newspaper DV yesterday that he had heard the glacier rumble and that the noise was similar as to when it last erupted in the spring of 2010, just not as loud.

“It might very well be true. If the wind is blowing in your direction, you hear it once in a while,” policeman at Hvolsvöllur Kristján Gudmundsson told mbl.is.

Gudmundsson said more people living in Rangárthing eystra have reported rumblings in the glacier under such wind conditions.

“I don’t know what it means and it is difficult to predict anything. It started without notice last time and we know that the crater is still open and boiling,” he added.

According to information from the Icelandic Meteorological Office, there is nothing that indicates increased seismic activity in Eyjafjallajökull. Earthquakes are monitored around the clock at the Meteorological Office.

ICELAND’s second largest volcano looks set to blow, bringing far more chaos than last year’s eruption, ­geologists warned yesterday.

Professor Pall Einarsson, of the University of Iceland, said unprecedented tremors gave good reason to worry.

He added: “There is no doubt that lava there is slowly growing.”

(...)

In comparison, the volcano which brought air traffic to a standstill last year, is tiny.

Do Daily Mirror

The Telegraph escreveu:

Geologists detected the high risk of a new eruption after evaluating an increased swarm of earthquakes around the island's second largest volcano.

Pall Einarsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, says the area around Bárdarbunga is showing signs of increased activity, which provides "good reason to worry".

He told the country's national TV station that a low number of seismometer measuring devices in the area is making it more difficult to determine the scale and likely outcome of the current shifts.

But he said there was "every reason to worry" as the sustained earthquake tremors to the north east of the remote volcano range are the strongest recorded in recent times and there was "no doubt" the lava was rising.

The geologist complained that the lack of coverage from measuring devices means he cannot accurately detect the depth and exact location of the increased number of localised earth movements.

(...)Respected volcano watcher Jón Frímann, said on his volcano watch blog: "After the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010 it seems that geologists in Iceland take earthquake swarms more seriously then they did before."

He explained the Icelandic Met Office had on Sunday warned of the increased risk of a eruption in north-west side of Vatnajökull glacier due to the high earthquake activity in the area, and added: "It is clear that only time is going to tell us if there is going to be a eruption in this area soon or not."

Presently, there are no signs of an imminent volcanic eruption in Iceland. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) did not issue a warning last weekend in connection with increased seismicity beneath the Vatnajökull ice-cap. If signs of an eruption were apparent, IMO would issue a warning immediately.Written by a specialist at 09 Feb 15:39 GMT

The eruption was followed by around 50 small earthquakes, the largest of which measured 3.7 on the Richter Scale, according to Iceland's meteorological office.

There was a similar eruption at the same volcano in 2004.

Scientists don't believe this eruption will lead to air travel chaos like that caused by ash from the Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April 2010.

The Grimsvotn volcano is located underneath the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland.

Sparsely populated Iceland is one of the world's most volcanically active countries and eruptions are frequent.

They often cause local flooding from melting glacier ice, but rarely cause deaths.

Last year's Eyjafjallajokul eruption left millions of air travelers stranded after winds pushed the ash cloud toward some of the world's busiest airspace and led most northern European countries to ground all planes for five days.

In November, melted glacial ice began pouring from Grimsvotn, signaling a possible eruption. That was a false alarm but scientists have been monitoring the volcano closely ever since.